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Dr Henry Jekyll
Dr Henry John Albert Jekyll is a kind hearted man who cares deeply for others. He is engaged to Sir Danvers Carew's daughter, and loves her very much, she brings him joy and hope whenever he falls into despair. He has an elegance, propriety and manners, which belies his situation and breeding. His father was, in the past, a well regarded doctor of medicine, and Henry has chosen to fallow in his fathers steps, however his belief in trying new ways to cure patients and not holding to the old non-working standards has caused him to seem eccentric and viewed in low regard within his profession. He is driven to prove things are not wrong just because they are new, and by the aim to improve the plight of those inflicted with mental illness – particularly his own father who in later life has fallen ill with several conditions leaving him unpredictable and restricted to an asylum-like environment. In pursuit of his goals Henry Jekyll attempts to distinguish what causes the swing between good and evil within man and to find a chemical formula that can separate the two in order to eliminate the “evil” element of a man’s personality. For this he requests a single human subject to help test his research and when the Board of Governors of the Hospital of St Judes rejects his proposal, dismissing his claims as unlawful and blasphemous, he sets out to prove his theory by using himself as the subject of the experiment. When he tests the formula on himself he unleashes his darker side of his own nature, releasing it from the inhibitions he has placed upon himself in order to fit into civil society, freeing himself to revel in the pleasures and wickedness of the world, experience all of the things he might have been too afraid to in fear that society would not approve. He however finds it difficult to control this side of him which is violent and lustful with no qualms about sleeping with prostitutes and killing those whom he feels has wronged him or gotten in the way of the things he desires. The experiment takes a toll on his life, risking him losing his fiancée, risking him being arrested, making him into the monster he has always held in check inside himself, bringing out what he has kept at bay. His endless pursuit, his quest for answers leads to nothing but death and destruction, the lose of almost everything he holds dear. Jekyll is locked in a desperate battle with himself to find the way back to the life he knew before. Notable Actors Who Have Played The Role *Chuck Wagner — 1986 Demo recording, 1987 Demo recording, Original 1990 Alley Theatre production, 1999 National Tour *Colm Wilkinson — 1990 Highlights album *Anthony Warlow — 1994 Complete Works Gothic Musical Thriller Album *Robert Cuccioli — 1995 First National Tour, 1997 Original Broadway Cast *Rob Evan — Original Broadway alternate, replacement, and closed the show as an alternate, Resurrection album, and In Concert Tour *Jack Wagner — First celebrity cast on Broadway in the role. *Sebastian Bach — Broadway *Brad Little — 2009 South Korean Tour, Planned 2010 Australasian Tour *David Hasselhoff — The final Broadway Jekyll and Hyde. Direct from Broadway DVD *Drew Sarich — Cologne, Germany only *Thomas Borchert — Vienna, Austria *Jo Seung-woo — Seoul, South Korea *Takeshi Kaga — Original Japanese Cast *Steve Barton — Bremen, Germany *Paul Nicholas — UK Tour *Raphael — 2000 Madrid Production *Jesper Lundgaard — Herning, Denmark *Daniel Hulka — 2005 Czech Cast *Aleksandr Domogarov — Moscow, Russia *Anders Ekborg — Ostgotateatern, Sweden *Marti Pellow - Second UK Tour *Constantine Maroulis - Fourth National Tour, 2012 Concept album, 2013 Revival * Joseph Mahowald - Alternate for Rob Evan, Jack Wagner, Sebastian Bach and David Hasselhoff. Left Show 3 months before closing. He was replaced by Rob Evan. * Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Understudies Category:Characters